And the Winner is… the Citizen? Participatory Governance of the
European Green Capital Award in Essen and Bristol
L. O.
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Submission: 21.06.2024
EUS3900
Supervisor: Dr. Jens Lachmund Bachelor Thesis
,Table of Contents
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1
2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Urban Governance............................................................................................................ 2
2.2 Citizen Involvement and Participation ....................................................................... 3
2.2.1 City Awards and Participatory Governance .............................................................. 4
3. Conceptual Framework ...................................................................................................... 5
4. Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 8
4.1 Case Selection and Data Collection ................................................................................. 9
4.2 Data Analysis Method .................................................................................................... 10
5. Findings ............................................................................................................................ 10
5.1 Essen............................................................................................................................... 11
5.1.1 Participation ............................................................................................................ 11
5.2 Bristol ....................................................................................................................... 13
5.2.1 Participation ............................................................................................................ 13
6. Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 14
6.1 Context and Constraints ........................................................................................... 15
6.2 Participation and Democracy ................................................................................... 16
6.2.1 What is Problematic from a Democratic Perspective.............................................. 16
6.2.2 Participation: who counts as Citizen? ..................................................................... 18
7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 19
References ................................................................................................................................ 21
, 1. Introduction
Urbanization is one of the most important and influential phenomena of the 21st
century (Sridhar & Mavrotas, 2021). In the European Union (EU), more than two thirds of the
population live in urban areas, and it is expected that urbanization will increase to more than
80% by 2050 (European Commission, 2020). Therefore, cities and local actors also play a
decisive role in sustainable matters, which are increasingly on the EU’s agenda. Following an
initiative of 15 European cities, the European Commission (Commission) therefore launched
the “European Green Capital Award” (EGCA) in 2008 “to recognize cities that are leading the
way with environmentally friendly urban living” (Commission, n.d., a.). A main characteristic
of both the selection process and winning the award is not only the (past) efforts and
transformation processes but also involving citizens and being the “European Green Capital”
and role model for a year (Commission, n.d., b.). Hence, as the European Capital of Culture
Award, the EGCA can be described as a “mega-event” (Németh, 2016).
This thesis aims to analyze cities’ participatory governance of the EGCA. Since the
2000s, governing institutions, including cities, have taken a “participatory turn” in their
policies (Nagy, 2018, p. 244; Fischer, 2012; Heinelt, 2007). The EGCA is no exception to
this, as the promotion of the Award is linked to citizen involvement and participation
(Commission, n.d., b.). Starting from the application process and covering the planning stage
until the start of the EGCA-year, the thesis examines how two European Green Capitals
involve citizens in their governance of the Award. Based on the concepts of urban and
participatory governance, this thesis sheds light on the participation of non-governmental
actors and its context, which relates to decision-making, power structures, and the often
deliberative discussions in Councils and Committees. The EGCA with its limited scope is a
useful case to concretely examine participatory governance (Nagy, 2018). Therefore, the
research question of this thesis is: how do European green capitals display different forms of
participation and involve citizens in their governance of the EGCA?
This is relevant as it remains disputed whether participation supports democratic ideals
or rather serves to conceal democratic deficits – or even harms democracy (e.g. Swyngedouw,
2005; Kuokkanen, 2009; Michels, 2011; Nagy, 2018). Additionally, this is relevant in other
ways: firstly, it contributes to the discussion by dedicating particular focus on the often-vague
concept of “citizen”, suggesting to distinguish between profit and non-profit actors. Secondly,
it compares the different approaches of cities, including their different contexts and
constraints which influence governance and hence citizen participation. Thirdly, it is relevant
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, by adding to the rather scarce literature on the EGCA. Initially, a literature review presents an
overview of urban and participatory governance. Second, the research design is presented,
explaining the relevant concepts and how the data was conducted and analyzed. Third, the
findings are presented, showing how and to what extent citizens participated in the
governance. This is linked to a discussion from a democratic perspective, as participatory
governance is interlinked with democracy (Schaap & Edwards, 2007; Kuokkanen, 2009).
Finally, a conclusion summarizes the findings, mentioning suggestions for future research.
2. Literature Review
The following section presents the state of the art of literature about urban governance,
participation, and city awards. First, the broad concept of urban governance is presented, as it
is important to examine the relevant context in which participation is embedded.
Subsequently it is linked to an overview of the more concrete concept of participatory
governance and participation. Finally, it is shown how participation in the governance of the
European Capital of Culture Award has been studied, as it appears to not have been studied
for the EGCA yet.
2.1 Urban Governance
The term “governance” has received remarkable attention in recent years and is
frequently used in the context of all forms of organized steering and regulating. The World
Bank (1992), for example, defined it as “the manner in which power is exercised in the
management of a country’s economic and social resources for development” (p. 1). However,
according to Fukuyama (2016), it is difficult to present a clear definition, as a consistent
understanding of it hardly exists. He (2016) goes back to the very origins of the term,
explaining that it is derived from a Greek word that means “to steer a ship” (p. 61). Since
“governance” is such a broad term, Fukuyama categorizes the literature into three fields:
international governance, good governance, and governing without government, while the
first and third often overlap.
Urban governance, in that regard, is just as far-reaching, as it has also been linked to
all three branches. Already 15 years ago, Eckardt & Elander (2009) observed that “the general
debate on the concept, its theoretical depth, analytical range, and applicability [have become]
even more complex” (p. 7). They (2009) highlight that both Urban and Supranational
governance experienced a “boom” at the same time. A driver of the increasing amount of
research on urban governance is cities’ complexity and locality. Both have been highlighted
and studied by numerous authors and been claimed to raise unique challenges and
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